PAINTING. 
air-teint (as that which produces the effect of the atmo- 
fphere is technically termed) has been moll; powerfully 
revived ; and of him it may truly be faid, that, had his 
patience in completing his pictures been equal to his tafte 
in colour, compofition, and effect, the ancient mailer 
might have fallen under the modern one; and we Ihould 
have had to boaft, that the greateft painter of landfcapes 
the world ever produced was an Englilbman. 
Paolo Veronefe is in arc/iileSlure what Titian is in land- 
fpape. To excel in landfcape, we mud, above all things, 
ftudy nature. To excel in architecture, we mult chiefly 
regard the fined works of art; fuch as the fronts of an¬ 
cient edifices, and the fabrics of thofe moderns who have 
belt Itudied and belt copied antiquity. Next to Brunel- 
lefchi and Alberti, who were the firlt revivers of archi¬ 
tecture, came Bramante, Giulio Romano, Sanfovino, 
Sanmicheli, and, laltly, Palladio, whofe works the young- 
painter Ihould, above all the reft, diligently Itudy and im¬ 
print deeply on his mind. Nor is Vignola to be forgot¬ 
ten ; for i'ome think he was a more fcrupulous copier of 
antiquity, and more exaCt, than Palladio himfelf, info- 
much that molt people confider him as the firlt architect 
among the moderns. Amonglt that great variety of pro¬ 
portions to be met with in ancient ruins, Palladio has 
been extremely happy in choofing the belt. His profiles 
are well contrafted, yet eafy. All the parts of his build¬ 
ings hang well together. Grandeur, elegance, and beauty, 
walk hand in hand in them. In fliort, the very blemilhes 
of Palladio, who was no fiave to conveniency, and fome- 
times perhaps was too profufe in his decorations, are pic- 
turefque. And we may reafonably believe, that it was by 
following fo great a mailer, whofe works he had continu¬ 
ally before his eyes, that Paolo Veronefe formed that fine 
and mafterly tafte which enabled him to embellilh his 
compofitions with fuch beautiful ftruCtures. 
In this difficult path of the art, perfpeCtive rules every 
line, and yet begs the help of the eye to avoid drynefs. 
Le Barbier l’Aine, who long held a diftinguifhed place 
among the members of the Academy of Painting at Paris, 
ufed to leave on his canvas all his lines drawn according 
to the ftriCt rules of perfpeCtive, and then go out to ftudy 
Nature on fome building whole ftyle was analogous to 
the back-ground of his picture. He was juftly perfuaded 
that the medium, the air, through which we perceive the 
objeCts, alters rdways, in fome degree, the general rules 
of perfpeCtive ; and that a pain-ting, which is to reprefent 
Nature, would look like a mere architectural drawing, if 
the eye was not to be confulted, and Nature allowed to 
foften the rigidity of Art. 
The ftudy of architecture cannot fail, in another refpeCt, 
of being very ufeful to the young painter, inafmuch as it 
will bring him acquainted with the form of the temples, 
thermae, bafilics, theatres, and other buildings, of the 
Greeks and Romans. Befides, from the baflo-relievos 
with which it was cuftomary to adorn thefe buildings, he 
may gather, with equal delight and profit, the nature of 
their facrifices, arms, military enfigns, and drefs. 
Of ECONOMICAL PAINTING. 
Economical Painting is that application of artificial 
colours, compounded either with water or oil, which is 
employed in preferving or embellilhing houfes, ihips, fur¬ 
niture, See. The term economical applies more immedi¬ 
ately to the power which oil and varnifhes poffefs, of pre¬ 
venting the aCtion of the atmofphere upon wood, iron, 
and ftucco, by interpollng an artificial furface. 
Among the utenfils of the painter, it is needlefs, 
but for rendering the article complete, to mention 
bruflies and pencils of all fizes as absolutely neceflary. 
The brufhes are made of hog’s briftles, or of hair with a 
mixture of briftles; they ought to be ftraight, very 
fmooth, and of a round form. Half an hour before they 
are ufed, it is proper to foak them in water, in order to 
fwell the wood of the handle, and prevent the hairs from 
Vol. XVIII. No. 1140. 
253 ; 
falling off; after this they may be applied to oil purpofes, 
either in water-colours or in oil ; but it may be obferved, 
that for the former they require lefs foftening. The pen- 
cilsaremnde of badger’s-hair, or any fine hairs ene haled 
in the pipes of quills of all lizes. 
The pahet is made of the wood of the pear or apple 
tree, of an oval or 1'quare fiiape, very (lender, but fome- 
what thicker at the centre than at the extremities. A 
hole is made.in one of its fides fufficiently large to admit 
the thumb of the workman. When the pallet is new, it 
is covered with oil of walnuts; and, as often as it dries, 
the operation is repeated, till it is fully impregnated ; it 
is afterwards poliflied, and finally rubbed with a piece of 
linen dipped in oil of common nuts. 
The pointer’s, knife is a thin flexible plate, equally (len¬ 
der on both fides, rounded at one extremity, and the 
other fixed into a handle of wood. 
All the veffels employed to hold the colours (hould be 
varniffied ; a precaution neceflary to prevent their drying 
too quickly. 
To grind, is to reduce to powder the fubftances which 
give colours on apiece of marble or any hard (tone by 
means of water, oil, or effence. 
To dilute, is to impregnate a liquid with a tint in fuch 
a manner as to make it capable of being applied by a 
brufh. 
When the materials-are ground in water, it is proper 
to dilute them in lize made from parchment. If they are 
diluted in fpirit of wine, there mult be no more diluted 
than what ferves the immediate occafion, a's colours pre¬ 
pared in this manner dry very rapidly. Colours ground 
in oil are fometimes diluted with pure oil, more fre¬ 
quently with oil mixed with effence, and commonly with 
the pure effence of turpentine; the effence makes the co¬ 
lours eafy to work. Thofe prepared in this manner are 
more folid, but they require more time to dry. When 
colours are ground with the effence of turpentine, and 
diluted in varnifh, as they require to be immediately ap¬ 
plied, it is neceflary to prepare a fmall quantity at a 
time. This preparation of colours gives greater bril¬ 
liancy, and dries more fpeedily, than thofe prepared in 
oil; but they require more art to manage them. 
In every cafe, prepare only the quantity of colours ne- 
ceffary for the work you undertake, becaufe they do not 
keep long ; and thoie which are newly mixed are more 
vivid and beautiful. Hold the brufh ltraight before you, 
and allow only the furface to be applied to the fubjedt: if 
you hold itinclined in any otherdireiStion, you w ill run the 
hazard of painting unequally. Yet it is neceflary to lay- 
on the colours boldly, and with great ftrokes; taking 
care at the fame time to fpread them equally over the fur¬ 
face, and not to fill up the moulding and carved work. 
If this'accident Ihould happen, you mult have a little 
brufh to clean out the colours. 
Stir the colours frequently iq the veffel, that they may 
preferve always the fame tint, and that no fediment may 
remain at the bottom. Never apply a fecond layer till the 
firlt or preceding one be perfectly dry ; which it is ealily 
known to be when, in bearing the hand gently over it, it 
does not adhere. In order to render this drying more 
fpeedy and uniform, make always the layers as thin as 
pofiible. 
Before painting, it is neceflary to prime the fubje£t; 
that is, to give it a layer of lize, or of white colouring- 
oil, to fill up the pores, and render the furface fmooth ; 
by this means fewer layers of colour or of varnifli are af¬ 
terwards neceflary. Every fubjedt to be painted orgildecl 
ought to have firlt a white ground ; this preferves the co¬ 
lours frelh and vivid, and repairs the damage which they 
occaftonally receive from the air. 
Of House-Painting in Water-Colours. 
Works which require no great care or preparation, as 
ceilings and ftaircafes, are generally painted in common 
3 T water- 
